Sunday book review – The Joy of Birdwatching (various authors)

Not intended, I’m sure, as a sequel to the 1972 classic, The Joy of Sex, but potentially a book to get the pulse racing if you are keen to see lots of species of bird all over the world. I’ve seen c1400 or so, a great many of them whilst working, which means there are…

RSPB makes a statement

Yesterday, the RSPB made a statement about its ‘comprehensive review of operations’ – click here. I’ve pasted the full statement, in blue, below as it’s not that easy to find on the RSPB website. It’s certainly not front-page news. A few comments on these 1149 words: I was itching to edit it into something more closely…

Guest blog – Life on The Skerries by David Higgins

David Higgins works in conservation. He has lived and worked in the Falkland Islands, St Helena Island, India, The Skerries, the Yorkshire Dales, the North Pennines and now the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. He loves islands especially seabird colonies, where he enjoys his main passion of wildlife photography.   My colleague, Filip, takes a full-frontal crap…

Letter to my new MP, Lee Barron

Dear Lee, May I offer my formal congratulations on your election as an MP. I’m not just being polite, I delivered lots of leaflets for your campaign and I am a Labour Party member. We have met briefly – I was one of the small group of Labour supporters who met you in Raunds library…

Open letter to the new Chair of RSPB

Email to Sir Andrew Cahn, RSPB Chair Dear Sir Andrew, Congratulations on becoming Chair of RSPB Council, although I have to say that at the online AGM I voted against your appointment, not because I have anything against you personally but because I know practically nothing about you but I didn’t much like the look…

Sunday book review – Great Misconceptions edited by Ian Parsons

This is a collection of essays about rewilding. I wrote what has been placed as the last chapter so I am reviewing this book without considering the last chapter. I hadn’t seen any of the other dozen chapters until the book arrived in the post last week. The chapters have been brought together by Ian…

Sunday book review – The Peregrine Thief by Alan Stewart

This is the final book in Alan Stewart’s trilogy of the exploits of Detective Sergeant Bob McKay – see reviews of Calls from the Wild and Cruel Intentions. The author wrote several non-fiction books (eg Killing by Proxy) about wildlife crime  before turning to the freedom that fiction gives an author to fill in the…

Bird Fair donations

I’m a fan of the Bird Fair but as I wrote in my Birdwatch September column I think Bird Fair has declined in standing in recent years. I skipped 2022 but have attended the last two, post-covid, Bird Fairs. It seems to me that people are voting with their feet and that what was once…

Sunday book review – Small Game Hunter by Peter Smithers

  We are asked ‘Have you ever wondered what entomologists do?‘ and I have, and I enjoyed finding out what this eminent entomologist (a vice-president of the Royal Entomological Society) has done. It seems to me, he has had a lot of fun and his enthusiasm is infectious. But his main field of research has…